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Discussion Round 1:EDITORIAL: Cultural tide has turned on sexual harassmentPublished 4:00 p.m. ET Dec. 1, 2017(Photo: ~File photo)CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMOREWe have arrived at a watershed moment in the history of sexual harassment in our culture. That’s the conclusion of Sarah McMahon, an associate director at Rutgers Center on Violence Against Women & Children, who answers many of our questions in Sunday’s @issue section.But she’s far from alone in her declaration. As a parade of high-profile abusers — Roger Ailes, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Sen. Roy Moore, Sen. Al Franken, Matt Lauer and many others — continue to be taken down by allegations of sexual harassment and in some cases outright assault, the most common question seems to be “Why now?” Why are so many victims coming forward now, typically many years after the fact, to accuse so many famous attackers?It all seemed to start with Ailes, the head of Fox News who stepped down in disgrace last year amid allegations of unwanted sexual advances. Bill O’Reilly was another target from the Fox ranks early on. But the process accelerated in October with rape and other allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein; in the aftermath it seemed as if every actress in Hollywood stepped forward with tales of sexual harassment in their own past, prompted by the #metoo movement. Capitol Hill was swept up in the onrush of accusations as well, most prominently involving Moore and Franken.The case of Lauer, the long-time “Today” show anchor for NBC who was quickly ousted last week amid mounting stories of sexual misconduct, may have been the most shocking, if only because it stood in such stark contrast to his public image. But in some respects there’s nothing surprising about any of this. Sexual politics in Hollywood and Washington? Who does?not?believe that we’ve barely scratched the surface about behavior that too often is laughed off as harmless boys-will-be-boys byplay?Yet victims are suddenly feeling more empowered to speak out. Are they more confident that their experiences will be believed? Do they feel less alone as more and more women step up with their own victim stories and explanations about their past reluctance to say anything?Or maybe we can “thank” President Trump for this. After all, Trump is the one major figure who seems to have skated clear of the sexual harassment allegations against him, despite an audio tape in which he boasts about what he can do to women because he’s a star. His accusers were predictably ridiculed and belittled during the 2016 presidential campaign — we’re to assume, apparently, that each was a flat-out liar — and perhaps in some fashion that was a last straw for many women disgusted by the apparent injustice, with victims turned into villains. It just took a scandal like Weinstein’s to open the floodgates.Regardless of the reasons, however, there is at the very least a heightened awareness about the ongoing prevalence of sexual harassment, and the many forms it can take. What matters to most Americans isn’t what’s going on the workplaces of Hollywood fantasyland or inside the Beltway, but within their own places of employment across the country. Are women feeling similarly empowered to step forward with complaints against their own bosses and co-workers, when they’re still vulnerable to retaliation? What steps are companies taking to both prevent sexual harassment and properly address the accusations that do surface?Some necessary steps in all workplaces should include:?Clearly developed policies on what constitutes sexual harassment?— Much of the inappropriate activity isn’t as obvious as Charlie Rose allegedly walking around nude or making lewd phone calls. More often it may occur as what some people might consider innocent banter or harmlessly flirtatious. Public and private employers need to spell out in detail the specific types of unacceptable behavior and how each will be addressed.?Ban nondisclosure agreements involving sex-harassment settlements with public officials?—The confidentiality pacts do nothing but empower sexual predators to continue preying on victims by hiding their past transgressions.?Mandatory training for public officials and their staffs?— This can be encouraged for private companies as well, but in the public sector some form of ongoing training requirement is in order that goes well beyond a one-time seminar.McMahon emphasizes that the burden of responsibility cannot fall on the victims and their willingness to step forward with complaints, but on the perpetrators themselves. Preventing sexual harassment, and amplifying the consequences for attackers, are the first priorities. If we’ve learned nothing else from the recent headlines, we see more clearly the scope of the problem and the need for action.Discussion Round 2:Discussion Round 3:The Bachelor Watches “The Bachelor”BY?JACOB SAENZI sit on the couch & witness my lifeprojected on a screen?—?I am whitew/a chiseled, dimpled chin & no lips.I’m a farmer who lives alone in a loft& not a lowly office worker who livesw/a roommate in an apartment wheredust balls decorate the floors & walls& the ceiling rings w/children’s feetrunning back & forth like baby bulls.I am crazy enough to be a contestanton a show where I’m contractually obligatedto propose to a woman who believesin a heteronormative, patriarchalidea of what a family should be.At the end of every episode, I offerroses to those I wish to make out w/more& take out on prepackaged romantic datesI could never afford on my bachelor budget.For example: a date in a castle, a glassslipper prop, a clock winding its waydown to midnight. My date & I sipchampagne, chat & eat, then we danceto a live orchestra led by a maestrowho wishes he were dead. A giant screen appears& plays a clip of a live-action Cinderella moview/Prince Charming played by an actorI’ve seen slaughter & behead a soldierlike clipping the head off a rose.In real life, my dates consist of dinnerat Burger King where we dine on chickenfries & don paper crowns for a royal feel.On another show date, I take two women into SouthDakota where we fly over the heads of whiteslave owners carved into a sacred Native mountain.At the end of the date, I offer no roses to eitherwoman & abandon them on a canopied bedin the middle of the Badlands & take offin a helicopter to provide the camerasan aerial view of wilderness & despair.At the end of the show, I find myself proposingto a fertility nurse in a barn made to looklike a chapel & not the place where I raisedmy first horse. Here,I will milk the cows for our future offspringto drink straight from the teat like I did as a kid.The show ends & I rise from the couch& walk into the kitchen. On bended knee,I reach for a bottle of beer deepin the back of the fridge, pop the toplike a question & take a swig, cold& crisp once it hits my full lips.Discussion Round 4:Commercialism Only Adds to Joy of the HolidaysDrink the eggnog, not the Kool-Aid: It's no sin to spread earthly joy through commerce.By? HYPERLINK "" Onkar Ghate, Contributor?|Dec. 18, 2009, at 1:40 p.m.Onkar Ghate is a senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif.I'm an atheist, and I love Christmas. If you think that's a contradiction, think again.Do you remember as a child composing wish lists of things you genuinely valued, thought you deserved, and knew would bring you pleasure? Do you remember eagerly awaiting the arrival of Christmas morning and the new bike, book, or chemistry set you were hoping for? That childhood feeling captures the spirit of Christmas and explains why so many of us look forward to the season each year.You may no longer anticipate Christmas morning with that same childhood excitement. After all, even if you still make a wish list, couldn't you just go out and buy the items yourself? Yet the pleasure of exchanging gifts as a token of friendship and love remains. Particularly when you receive (or purchase) a gift that could come only from someone who knows you well—say, a shirt that broadens your style or a new wine that becomes one of your favorites—it serves as a material reminder of a spiritual bond.More widely, through cards, telephone calls, parties, long-distance travel, and vacation, Christmas serves as a time to reconnect with cherished family and friends, to share important events of the past year, and to look forward to the next. It's a time to enjoy delectable chocolates, spiced eggnog, four-course meals, festive music, and party games.Christmas is a spiritual holiday whose leitmotif is personal, selfish pleasure and joy. The season's commercialism, far from detracting from this celebration, as we're often told, is integral to it."The best aspect of Christmas," Ayn Rand once observed, is "that Christmas has been commercialized." The gift buying "stimulates an enormous outpouring of ingenuity in the creation of products devoted to a single purpose: to give men pleasure. And the street decorations put up by departments stores and other institutions—the Christmas trees, the winking lights, the glittering colors—provide the city with a spectacular display, which only 'commercial greed' could afford to give us. One would have to be terribly depressed to resist the wonderful gaiety of that spectacle."Before Christians co-opted the holiday in the fourth century (there is no reason to believe Jesus was born in December), it was a pagan celebration of the winter solstice, of the days beginning to grow longer. The Northern European tradition of bringing evergreens indoors, for instance, was a reminder that life and production were soon to return to the now frozen earth.This focus on earthly joy is the actual source of the emotion most commonly identified with Christmas: goodwill. When you genuinely feel good about your own life and when you're allowed to acknowledge and celebrate that joy, you come to wish the same happiness for others. It is those who despise their own lives who lash out at and make life miserable for the rest of us.The commercialism of Christmas reinforces our goodwill. When you scour the malls in search of the perfect gift for a loved one and witness the cornucopia of goods and lights and decorations, you can't help but feel that your fellow human beings are not enemies to be feared or fools to be avoided but fellow travelers and potential allies in the quest for joy. It's no accident that America, the world's most productive country, is also its most benevolent.Christmas's relation to goodwill leads many to believe the holiday is inseparable from Christianity, allegedly the religion of goodwill. But the connection is tenuous. A doctrine that tells you that you're a sinner—that you must seek redemption but cannot earn it yourself and that Jesus, sinless, has endured an excruciating death to redeem you, who doesn't deserve his sacrifice but who should accept it anyway—can hardly be characterized as expressing a benevolent view of man.Christianity from the outset has been suspicious of human, earthly pleasure and joy. At best, these are seen as unbecoming a sinner, who should be busy repenting and fretting over his fate in an imagined next life. There once existed a war against Christmas—when religionists held sway in America. The Puritans canceled Christmas; in Boston from 1659 to 1681, the fine for exhibiting Christmas merriment was 5 shillings.Christmas as we know it, with its twinkling lights, flying reindeer, and dancing snowmen, is largely a creation of 19th-century America. One of the most un-Christian periods in Western history, it was a time of worldly invention, industrialization, and profit. Only such an era would think of a holiday dominated by commercialism and joy and sense the connection between the two.Christmas in America is not a Christian holiday. And besides, in a country that separates church from state, no national holiday can be regarded as the purview of a religion.But any celebration can be corrupted. It's not uncommon today to hear people say Christmas is their most stressful period. Pressed for time (and this year probably for money, too), they feel there are just too many lights to put up, meals to cook, and gifts to buy. Seeking something to blame, they blame the commercialism of the season. But there is no commandment, "Thou shall buy a present for everyone you know." This is the religious mentality of duty rearing its ugly head again. Do and buy only that which you can truly afford and enjoy; there are myriad ways to celebrate with loved ones without spending a cent.But whatever you do end up doing, don't let the state of the economy rob you of the gaiety of the season. Perhaps now more than ever, we all need to remind ourselves that reaching joy on this Earth is the meaning of life.Merry Christmas! ................
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